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Australians stranded as snow storm hits Tokyo

Passengers take shelter from a stranded train in Sanjo, Niigata prefecture, north of Tokyo. Photo: AP

Tokyo: Scores of Australians were left stranded in Japan overnight, as a rare winter storm delivered Tokyo its heaviest snowfall in years, forcing the cancellation of 250 international flights.

An estimated 16 centimetres of snow had fallen in the centre of the Japanese capital by 7pm on Monday (local time). Kyodo news agency reported it was the city's heaviest snowfall in four years.

Snow falls as a man holding an umbrella walks past the main gate to the National Diet building in Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg

Sydney mum Sally Quinn is one stranded passenger, as she tries to get home after skiing for ten days with her family at Niseko.

"My son and I are both sick, this is the last thing we need," she told AAP at the airport.
"Got to get back to work."

University student Tom Waddington, 20, had been on a snowboarding holiday with his family at Myoko for a week.

The family of six caught Tokyo trains and the monorail to the airport and were shocked by the sardine factor.
"It was pretty hectic," he said.

"So many people were shoving on to the trains."

It's understood at some ski fields buses with Australian skiers aboard couldn't get through the thick snow, causing some passengers to miss their flight entirely.

Trains to Tokyo's suburbs were unusually full in the afternoon.

The government issued heavy snow warnings for the area around the capital, just two weeks after hundreds of people were trapped overnight in a train in northern Japan due to heavy snow.

The Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported universities had postponed entrance exams due to have been held on Tuesday morning.

A looming low pressure system and cold front just off the coast of Japan's main island of Honshu was expected to bring low temperatures and more snow throughout the day and night, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

The Japanese capital often sees snow at least once a year, but this time it was accumulating, rather than quickly melting.